1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the hardware and deployment methods and systems of parachutes. The invention particularly relates to sport skydiving and military free fall and static line parachute operations. The invention more particularly relates to reserve parachute deployments that use techniques and equipment to minimize time and altitude loss required for full inflation of a reserve parachute after releasing (cutting away) a malfunctioned main parachute from a parachute harness/container system utilizing a free-bag reserve deployment system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Parachutes have been used regularly in military and civilian applications for descents from aircraft in flight since the early 1900s. Early systems utilized only one parachute (a main parachute or main); in the event of a malfunction (improper or incomplete inflation) during deployment, tragic consequences ensued shortly thereafter due to unacceptably high impact forces on the payload upon contact with the ground. This resulted in damage or destruction if the payload was cargo; death or injury resulted in human payloads.
To increase the odds of a safe landing (especially for human payloads), an extra back-up (reserve) parachute was added to the original main parachute harness/container systems in the 1930s, increasing the reliability of the systems. Initially, these reserve parachutes were manually deployed by the jumper (skydiver) in the air after a main parachute malfunctioned. This reserve parachute manual deployment technique proved unsatisfactory, however, due to entanglements between the malfunctioned main parachute and the deploying reserve parachute. In the 1960s, sport civilian jumpers modified then-existing military releases (Capewell) which were designed solely to be released on the ground if the jumper was being dragged by the main parachute due to high winds upon landing. These modified releases were incorporated into sport parachute systems and a method was developed to enable the jumper to release (also termed break-away or cut-away) the malfunctioned main parachute and re-enter free fall prior to deploying the reserve parachute. Other improved parachute release systems ensued, including one by this same inventor (3-ring release). This generally solved the main/reserve parachute entanglement problems but introduced new problems to safe reserve parachute deployments. The first problem was the increased time and altitude needed after cut-away for the reserve to fully deploy. The increased reserve deployment time is approximately 3 seconds and increased altitude needed is approximately 300 to 500 feet for a solo jumper of average weight of 180 pounds. With the introduction of Tandem parachute systems (which carry a passenger or cargo bundle in addition to the jumper under one main/reserve parachute system), this additional time/altitude needed for Tandem systems was increased even further due to larger main/reserve parachute sizes and longer suspension line lengths. These increased time/altitude requirements for the cut-away reserve deployment systems have resulted in death or injury to jumpers who initiated the cut-away procedure at too low of an altitude to allow for full inflation of the reserve prior to impact with the ground. To decrease reserve deployment time/altitude requirements after cut-away from a malfunctioned main parachute, in the 1970s sport parachute jumpers introduced the Reserve Static Line (RSL). The RSL is a piece of pliable nylon webbing about 2 feet long, one end of which is connected to the main parachute riser(s) and the other end attached to the reserve ripcord pin. Upon cut-away of the main parachute, as the jumper falls away, the RSL is quickly pulled taut and removes the ripcord pin, allowing the reserve pilot chute to be released into the air stream. While the RSL modification pulled the reserve ripcord pin within falling 2 feet from the released main, it did nothing to decrease the actual deployment time/altitude once the reserve parachute container was opened. The disadvantage of the RSL is that upon reserve pin removal, the reserve pilot chute must still launch and inflate prior to reserve free-bag deployment, sacrificing precious altitude that may or may not be available for the jumper to land safely under a fully inflated reserve parachute.
The second flaw encountered with existing cut-away reserve deployment systems is the ability and tendency of the jumper to tumble in free fall after the cut-away and impede the reserve parachute deployment by entanglement between the jumper and deploying reserve parachute (reserve), causing a reserve malfunction with disastrous consequences. With the introduction of highly wing-loaded high-performance main parachutes in the 1980s (which have more violent malfunctions modes), this flaw prevents most experienced sport skydivers from using a RSL, preferring instead to wait to “get stable” after cut-away for proper reserve deployment. This “waiting” increases the time and altitude required for complete reserve inflation, decreasing the margin of safety with respect to cut-away altitude above ground level (AGL). Again, this unstable free fall jumper entanglement-with-reserve-after-cut-away problem is greatly magnified when used on a Tandem main/reserve parachute system. The displaced center of mass of the Tandem pair of jumpers from the cut-away suspension point tends to induce a rotational momentum (which is compounded if the malfunctioned Tandem main is spinning) and increases the chances of entanglement with the deploying Tandem reserve parachute. This exact problem recently caused 2 Tandem jumper fatalities in the U.S. At this time, only skydiving students and Tandem jumpers are mandated to use RSLs by the skydiving membership organization, United States Parachute Association (USPA) and the federal government, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), due to these problems.
Another piece of equipment remotely related to this invention is the use by the “Sorcerer” dual canopy BASE (fixed object jumping) parachute container made by Vertigo Base Outfitters in Utah. This container system is not designed for skydiving uses from aircraft, nor is it legal to use in this country for descents from aircraft. Unlike this invention, the Sorcerer attaches the free-bag to the main risers and uses an externally mounted reserve pilot chute. Also unlike this invention, the Sorcerer does not work if the main parachute is not deployed and the reserve is opened by any means other than by operator intervention (premature deployment due to broken reserve closing loop, etc.), the system fails completely. Further unlike this invention, the Sorcerer uses a hand-deploy reserve pilot chute with no spring; the Skyhook systems uses a spring-loaded reserve pilot chute, which is the world-wide standard in the industry.
The new and useful Skyhook and Skyhook Reserve Parachute Deployment Method of this invention obviates many, if not all, of the prior art problems. The Skyhook is a unique article of manufacture and method of use that greatly reduces the time and altitude required for reserve parachute inflation after cut-away from a malfunctioned main parachute, greatly enhancing safety. First, since the Skyhook is incorporated and attached from the reserve pilot chute bridle to the main parachute via the Skyhook SL, the main parachute is utilized as the reserve pilot chute, deleting the launch time/altitude needed for a conventional spring-loaded reserve pilot chute. This reduces the time required for reserve line-stretch by approximately 66%. Secondly, it does not interfere in any way with the manual deployment of the reserve parachute by pulling the reserve ripcord. Thirdly, this invention requires no operator input to function correctly and is very simple and durable, reducing if not eliminating any mistakes or errors when rigging and packing the system into the reserve parachute container.